While some workers need no incentive to take a break from the office, statistics show that it’s always that employees have trouble stepping away.
According to Glassdoor.com., 75 percent of employees with paid time off didn’t take all their vacation in 2013. Not taking a break can lead to fatigue, burnout, heart problems and overall reduced productivity.
But those nonstop workers also make their colleagues who do take vacation feel guilty, according to the Wall Street Journal.
And while most companies may turn a blind eye to workaholics, or even praise them, it turns out those who have trouble disconnecting from their work may actually cause problems for the entire office, reports Journal.
So how do companies combat those nonstop workers who can’t getaway?
Pay them more for actually taking time off. That’s right, we’re not just talking about salaried time off- we’re talking about a real vacation bonus.
Evernote, a software services company based in Redwood City, California, has an unlimited paid vacation time policy, which can get confusing.
“Maybe that means they don’t want me to take any,” says Phil Libin, chief executive told the Journal.
To combat the notion that the company wanted their workers in the building 365 days of the year, Libin started a program where employees received $1,000 to go away for a week. The cash incentive is only received once the worker has completed their full vacation. Really.
Another software firm, FullContact, initiated a program in 2012 that offered each employee $7,500 a year to help finance personal vacations. The Journal reported that used vacation time rose sharply after the money was offered and now employees take a week to nine days of time off.
Other companies have started mandating that employees use up their vacation time. How this is enforced remains unclear.
While taking time off has been known to improve overall wellness, research indicates that those who can’t unwind may supercede their more relaxed peers.
Oxford Economics conduced a survey of 971 employees and found that 13 percent of managers were less likely to promote employees who took all of their allotted vacation. The DIW Economic Bulletin published a German study in 2012 that indicated employees who took fewer days off earned almost three percent more than those who took all their vacation time.
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